257 The Baptism of Our Lord: Knight to King’s Four
“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” ~ Isaiah 60
Knight to King’s Four: The Power Move
The board is set. The pieces wait—silent but dangerous. No room for hesitation. No space for weakness. The game begins not with passivity but power.
Knight to King’s Four.
This isn’t just a move—it’s a statement. The Knight? He’s not your average pawn. He bends where others break. He moves where others can’t. He leaps over the obstacles while the crowd gets stuck playing checkers.
And where does he go? King’s Four. The center. The hot zone. The battlefield where control is seized and dominance declared. No safety nets here. This move? It’s strategy, risk, and faith—all in one.
But listen: It’s not just about tactics. It’s a gambit—a calculated risk where you sacrifice small to win big.
✅ Faith over sight.
✅ Initiative over hesitation.
✅ Action over fear.
The Knight doesn’t ask permission.
The Knight leads.
Because the truth? Victory doesn’t belong to the timid. The board favors the bold. The hesitant? They get cornered. Crushed. Overrun.
But the one who moves first?
He commands the game.
"In the beginning..."
So the challenge is simple:
Are you moving forward, or are you playing not to lose?
Knight to King’s Four. Make your move.
Play to win.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
R.J.M.F
(via The Guardian)
The Perfect Storm of Blame
The most destructive fires in California’s history have hit Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and the northern end of San Fernando Valley with other areas also under threat. Some fires are still burning uncontained, being driven by persistent wind. Videos from the fire defy imagination. With the spread of human population across the region, fires create more carnage than decades gone by. Pray for those in peril and for those trying to help. The death toll so far is 24 but is expected to rise.
Speculation about the causes of the fires have been the subject of hours of broadcast and reams of posts. “Low information journalists” predictably blamed climate change (Time declares: “It’s long been established that climate change turbocharges wildfires”) but that is misguided. Some far right wingers predictably blamed Jews. Also unhelpful.
The lack of readiness on the part of authorities has certainly made a bad situation worse. Some key fire fighting equipment was given to Ukraine. At least one fire is thought to have been deliberately set by a homeless man and looters have been taking advantage of evacuated homes. Warnings that the Santa Ana winds would be extra ferocious this year, teamed with failure to clear forest floor litter meant there was plenty of fuel for the flames. Actor James Woods, who lost his home, said that local councils have not been consistent enforcing laws about citizens keeping brush under control.
Reports came that there was no water in fire hydrants after a few hours, leaving firefighters with no way to extinguish flames. Although trucks of water were brought in, cars abandoned by fleeing residents hindered access in some places. Authorities said the fire hydrants in urban areas were not designed to cope with such a huge blaze and that the drop in water pressure caused by demand affected fighters higher up. But there is plenty of reason to wonder why more water was not available. One massive reservoir has been empty for almost a year, apparently awaiting repairs.
Anger at the state’s leaders may “complicate California Democrats' plans to lead Trump defiance”, says NBC news. Dems may find it worth their while to have a conversation about their learned (and convenient) helplessness. In adopting insoluble (and phantom) causes such as climate change and systemic racism, while making their cities sanctuaries for illegal aliens and gender madness, they seem to have lost sight of the actual people in their care. (What are the chances that there’d be so many lesbians in leadership?) Steadily chipping away at homelessness, the cost of living and disaster mitigation seems to be beneath their time or attention. But there are only so many times people can tolerate those in charge deflecting to systemic problems beyond their control!
Natural disasters have not been bringing out the best in our national dialogue lately. The political aisle seems to roll right on through every disaster zone, with blame flying from each side, while practical folks get in and help out. As with the hurricanes last year, waiting for our leaders and their chattering proxies to take action is costly. Some pundits had very little sympathy for the wealthy residents of Malibu and the Palisades but apart from that being really gross, there are plenty of regular folks who have also lost everything. State price controls for fire insurance have left many homeowners uninsured with providers refusing to renew policies as it was not financially viable for them to do so in fire-prone areas like LA.
Despite the politicization of everything, people are being amazing. Pastor Martin Lee is updating on his Facebook page, if you care to follow. If you know of people who are helping out, pass the info our way and we can update our readers.
Meta Facelift
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that the company is ditching efforts to censor speech on its platforms, instead rolling out crowdsourced moderation, similar to Community Notes on X. At least that means Zuck is being honest for once – the announcement is an admission that Meta has been censoring speech, despite protestations to the contrary.
Zuckerberg blamed fact checkers for Meta sites being too politically biased while the “fact checkers” were big mad, saying it isn’t their fault, since Meta sets the benchmarks for who can say what on its platforms; they were just policing. Still, they seem happy to take Meta’s money, which makes you wonder how independent they could have been.
During a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Zuckerberg said that the pandemic was eye-opening for him with government agencies demanding Meta censor various covid-related claims. When they eventually stood up against the pressure, he said Meta became the target of “brutal” government harassment. So, is he suing the administration? Not that we know of. Everyone is suspicious of the move away from censorship, with conservatives assuming it’s a cynical ploy to make everyone forget how ZuckBucks contributed to President Biden’s electoral win and consequently awful administration. When he cited the changing political mood and vowed to swap out more liberal execs for conservative ones, progressives called Zuck a grifter, saying he is using free speech as a disguise to facilitate fascism.
If it’s just the political wind blowing, then so be it. There’s still a lot you can’t say, but since we’re working for better things, having more tools available for now must be a good thing.
In this edition:
Births, Deaths and Marriages
A federal judge has rejected President Biden’s Department of Education reworking of Title IX provisions which would have allowed men into girl’s locker rooms and bathrooms. United States District Court Judge Danny C. Reeve said the rewrite did not make sense. (The Blaze)
Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine has signed a bill into law which requires parents to be informed about what their children are learning in the state’s public schools. Parents must be informed about lessons involving sexual content or gender ideology and given the chance to opt out. (WNG)
Would it surprise you if there was a euthanasia-to-organ-harvesting pipeline forming? Like the evil trade in body parts from aborted babies, opportunistic vultures will pocket cash while selling death as a good thing. (The Federalist)
Crime and Punishment
President-elect Donald Trump has been sentenced with an unconditional discharge in the New York fraud case against him. No other punishment was issued leading to justifiable speculation that Judge Juan Merchan’s refusal to throw the case out was purely to “[cement] his status as a felon.” Hopefully, there is no more nefarious scheme afoot. Trump had appealed to the Supreme Court to intervene on the grounds that the case is a distraction from his important duties as president, but a majority concluded that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Trump will appeal the sentence. (Daily Wire, Not the Bee)
Current and former Minneapolis police officers have signed a statement saying their Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell committed perjury when she testified during the trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer convicted of killing George Floyd. Blackwell said at the time that the technique used to restrain Floyd was unorthodox but officers say it is a standard part of their training. (Not the Bee)
Police have arrested a 26 year-old nurse over injuries apparently inflicted on neo-natal babies in a Virginia hospital. (CNN)
Coming to America
The Laken Riley Act has passed the US House, despite Democrats voting overwhelmingly against it. The Act would require illegal immigrants who commit burglary or theft in the US to be detained by authorities. (The Blaze)
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Politics
The US Congress has certified last year’s election results. (Semafor)
The religious composition of the 119th Congress which was just sworn in.(Pew)
To raise or not to raise? Reports say President Biden is intending to keep flags at half mast following the death of President Carter, as per the tradition within flag code. The thirty day period will clash with Donald Trump’s inauguration. (ZeroHedge)
Straight Outta J-School
It appears that we are in a new season of media accountability with a defamation case against CNN kicking off in a Florida court last week. Zachary Young, who was helping people flee war zones is accusing the network of ruining him after anchors characterized him as running a “black market” operation. Young says having your name smeared even a little means defense contractors doing sensitive work will not consider hiring you. With CBS agreeing to settle a lawsuit filed against it by Donald Trump, talking heads worry that freedom of the press is being impinged upon. But others will say it is an important redress for journalists to be more careful in how they report.(Red State, The Federalist)
Health, Medicine and Food
A report from a Florida grand jury has highlighted some of the most reckless actions taken by pharmaceutical companies and government agencies in the creation and promotion of covid vaccines. The jury found that many of Moderna and Pfizer’s investigations into “safety signal” concerns for their vaccines were never made known to the public. It also found that emergency use authorization was too broadly designated since the effects on transmission of the virus were never investigated. The report concludes that it has no real means of indicting any particular entity but recommended a ban on television advertising for pharmaceuticals, requiring all trial data to be published and putting a stop to Pharma execs and lobbyists trading places so easily. (The Federalist)
The US Food and Drug Administration has ruled that a warning for serious nerve damage must be placed on two RSV vaccines. (Epoch Times)
Lousiana has recorded Amreica’s first bird-flu death, according to reports. The patient was “over 65 and reportedly had underlying medical conditions” was hospitalised with flu symptoms after being exposed to wild birds. (CNN)
It’s never over when it comes to health concerns over plastic and heat! Recycling plastics represents a new frontier as plastics claiming to be free of “forever chemicals” are mixed with those that aren’t. “In other words, plastic is a contaminant that should be taken out of the recycling system all together, and dealt with as the toxic/hazardous waste that it is.” (Outside)
How corn syrup took over America. (The Hustle)
Even Monday is a day that Jesus made!
God’s Green Earth
The Biden Department of Energy has banned “most natural gas-powered instantaneous water heaters” from being sold by 2029. The President also banned any new offshore drilling for oil and gas. (Washington Free Beacon, Reuters)
Brutal winter storms have battered the midwest and east coast of the USA. (USA Today)
Thailand has banned imports of plastic waste. Plastic waste from the UK, USA and other nations is shipped to Thailand to help meet the West’s recycling goals, but it is often burned, producing toxic byproducts. (The Guardian)
Money, Markets and Jobs
JPMorgan Chase & Co appears to be backtracking on its commitment to climate activism, announcing it is leaving the United Nations-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance. (Epoch Times)
The Biden administration has finalized a rule which will exempt American’s medical debt from being included on credit reports. (CNN)
A World Economic Forum survey claim that almost half of employers aim to downsize their workforce to automate jobs with AI. (CNN)
This is not your last job. If you love learning and growing, you’ll always find something to do. (Chris Krycho)
Religion and the Church
The UK will soon be home to a monument celebrating answered prayer. (WNG)
Hearts and Minds
Taking a break is one thing, but multitasking is the enemy when it comes to deep work: “The high energy cost of cortical activity is why selective attention — focusing on one thing at a time — exists in the first place and why multitasking is an unaffordable fool’s errand.” (MIT Reader)
Mood boosters for getting out of a funk. (NPR)
Features of adulthood, real and imagined. (XKCD)
Stories from Far Away
🇬🇧 Britain’s parliament has voted against a new inquiry into the “grooming gangs” scandal. The measure was attached to another bill and was easily defeated by the Labour majority. The decades long trafficking scandal, which has resurfaced after renewed interest on social media, was enabled by authorities who were too afraid of backlash from minority communities. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has dismissed outrage over the gangs as a “far right bandwagon”. (BBC, ZeroHedge, UnHerd)
🇩🇰 🇬🇱 Denmark’s foreign minister has said Greenland may pursue independence if it wants to, but that it is unlikely to join the US. (MSN)
🇨🇳 Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly sending a high-level envoy to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration. President Trump had invited Xi to attend. (NHK World)
🇻🇪 Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado says she was detained after leading protests against President Nicolás Maduro, days before he was sworn in for a third term. Edmundo González who is believed to have won the last election has fled to Panama, putting original vote tallies in a bank for safekeeping. In the meantime, the USA has advertised a $25 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest. (ABC News, AP, The Hill)
🇧🇷 Brazil is accusing Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD of bringing Chinese workers to Brazil illegally to man its factory there. (CNBC)
🇨🇳 A number of Norway’s richest people left after the introduction of wealth tax, but the government has doubled down, introducing an “exit tax” for when they leave. (ZeroHedge)
🇰🇪 A 1000 pound piece of space junk has landed in a Kenyan village. (Live Science)
🇨🇦 A rare Steller’s sea eagle has been spotted in Canada, thousands of miles from the usual haunts. There are thought to be less than 5,000 of the raptors left in the world. (Smithsonian)
⏲️ The 5-second rule is bunk
🍟 An Arizona town abandoned in the 50s is now an outdoor museum
✏️ More hyperrealistic pencil drawings from Kohei Ohmori
🦞 Cockroach of the sea: how lobster went from being prison food to a delicacy
🐙 And if you’ve really got nothing better to do, guess a Pokemon from its silhouette
🍕 A day in the life of a New York City pizzeria
🍕 Things you can do with beer besides drinking it
🦎 Meteorologists have warned Floridians to watch out for falling iguanas
🐾 A marathon-running chihuahua
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This Week Preached:
Let us pray. Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River You proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.Amen.
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